TOPEKA (KSNT) – The Topeka City Council voted to approve cuts to city code regarding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) under the condition the matter be referred back to committee so that future amendments can be made.
City Councilmember Spencer Duncan motioned to approve changes recommended by Policy and Finance Committee during the Tuesday, June 17 meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Karen Hiller and passed 5-1 with Deputy Mayor Brett Kell voting no.
The proposed amendments came after news the city was about to lose $45 million in federal funding unless the city removed language pertaining to DEI.
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27 News reached out to City Communications Director Dan Garrett before the meeting to get a preview of the committee’s changes. Garrett said the anti-discrimination policy will be updated to be in-line with federal grant requirements. He said the committee tried to make the changes as minimal as possible and the major change was removing the affirmative action policy.
In the meeting, City Attorney Amanda Stanley told the council that according to a memo from the city director of planning and housing services, they had until June 30 to make the changes or the city would lose federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds.
“You’re out of funds so there will be no Shelter Plus Care funds for rent for however many people starting July 1,” Stanley said.
City Councilwoman Sylvia Ortiz said she’d been working with a church that got grant funds from Home Securities. Ortiz said the grant funds have been approved and then placed on hold repeatedly. She said the church got the funds because a 90-year-old woman had been stabbed right after church services.
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“They are looking through, and I want my colleagues to know this as well as the public,” Ortiz said. “They are looking through every single wording in these grants to see how they can pull this money back. She got a large sum of money, and they keep pulling it back, putting it forward, pulling it back, putting it forward, into a much-needed church. That type of action that happened could happen anywhere.”
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Agenda_2025_6_17_Meeting by Colter Robinson on Scribd
